Anonymous PD Speaks: How Boxed in as Urban Programmers are we?

I mean, let’s be fair, if non- black programmers can program Urban AC and Mainstream stations, shouldn’t you or I be able to apply for and get a position at a country station if we have some knowledge of the genre? That would be the right way, but that’s not reality. Yes, there are a few who have “crossed over”, but once you go black……well, you know the old saying. I can think of a few jocks and programmers who have excelled in non-black formats. Tony Kidd was a country programmer if I’m not mistaken, before he joined V103 in Chicago. Derrick Brown was an AC MD years before becoming PD at V103 in Chicago. There are others, but far and few between. If a white PD can go on to run programming for the largest black owned radio company, shouldn’t there be at least one black or Hispanic PD who is capable of making decisions for a station that appeals to other races? We know it’s true, but, our ability to relate will always be questioned. The weird part is that we see how the other folks live and what hey watch on television on a daily basis, while the “urban mindset” comes from real life acted out first hand everyday in our neighborhoods.

We have drama, but it’s not like the stuff on Housewives of Atlanta or Basketball Wives or some prison show, but to the folks in charge at most of the major companies, that’s who we are. Just look at the commercials on TV that are targeted towards black people. Imagine if you stepped into a country PD role and programmed the station based on the characters on the Dukes of Hazzard. You wouldn’t last long.

Kevin Ross: RFFocus.org CEO with over 20 years experience in the Industry. Ross is a former radio Program Director and Radio Jock. You can contact him by clicking the "Contact Us" button in the menu bar.

2 COMMENTS

This dilema is similar to churches who don’t address the elephant in the room, real issues that affect the congregation…so why is a white PD programming the largest black owned radio company, who by the way programs to black consumers. Where and how does the credibility add up? Please, by all means submit your answers.

Why in the world is a white PD in charge in the first place?
Programming not just a station but in charge of programming for the largest black owned radio company. Your comparisons and attempts to illustrate similar scenarios don’t explain the oddity of such an appalling circumstance.